Genre
Science Fiction
Setting and Context
On board the generational vessel Matilda, in which racism and racial stratification has run rampant.
Narrator and Point of View
Third person point of view.
Tone and Mood
The book is solemn, sad, radical, energetic, violent, oppressive, and tense.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Aster is the protagonist; racism and those who advance it is the antagonist
Major Conflict
The conflict between the darker-skinned people on lower levels and the lighter-skinned people on the upper levels.
Climax
The outbreak of the Civil War on the ship is the climax of the book.
Foreshadowing
The outbreak of the Civil War is foreshadowed by Aster's actions and her inner musings.
Understatement
The strangeness and peculiarity of the situation the people on the Matilda finds themselves in is understated for much of the book.
Allusions
The novel alludes to the history of the United States, particularly the history of the U.S. Civil War, slavery, the period following the Civil War, and the history of racism in the United States. The novel also alludes to religion and its customs, other popular culture (particularly novels), as well as mythology.
Imagery
As the civil war on the ship grows nearer, intense imagery surrounding slavery and the U.S. Civil War becomes more prevalent.
Paradox
As humans have moved forward, they have become more accepting and more progressive. However, many years in the future, humans engage in racist and very much not progressive behavior.
Parallelism
The stories of the darker-skinned people who live on lower decks and the oppression they must endure are paralleled with each other.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Lower decks are used to refer to the lower levels of the Matilda, on which darker-skinned people live.
Personification
The ship that all of the characters in the novel reside on is personified throughout the novel.
